Cherokee County Crime Rundown | Crime

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Tuesday, Dec. 14: A joint investigation between the Cherokee Sheriff's Office and U.S. Secret Service resulted in the arrest of two individuals near Bells Ferry Road and Highway 92 in Acworth.

A local business owner contacted the Cherokee Sheriff's Office two weeks prior and reported that the two suspects approached him about laundering large quantities of counterfeit money. The suspects claimed they could provide up to $2 million in counterfeit money in exchange for real currency at a rate of 50 cents on the dollar.

Investigators arranged an undercover meeting between the business owner and the suspects to further discuss the transaction. While monitoring the conversation, investigators determined that the suspects were proposing a scam in which they trade white paper for real cash.

The scammers explained that, when treated with certain chemicals, the paper transformed into high quality counterfeit cash. They performed a demonstration, and then gave the business owner real cash and claimed that it was counterfeit money.

The suspects were arrested and identified as 36-year-old Bidas Tsomberg (a.k.a. Simon Makoko) of Woodstock and 31-year-old Dany Thelineau of France. Both suspects were charged with Conspiracy to Commit Theft and Violation of the Georgia RICO Act.

A subsequent search of the suspects' vehicle resulted in the seizure of $20,000 of real U.S. currency hidden in the back seat. The exact incident location and business owner's name are being withheld for his protection.

Both suspects are in custody at the Cherokee Adult Detention Center, where their bonds have been set at $66,400. ICE has placed a hold on Thelineau.

With assistance from the agency's VIPER and Strike teams, 911, Georgia State Probation, and Holly Springs, Canton and Woodstock Police Departments, 36 law enforcement officers physically visited every house of every registered sex offender residing in Cherokee County.

Contact was made with 109 of the 152 total offenders who reside in the county. The additional 43 offenders will be verified over the next two weeks.

State law requires that residences of sex offenders are verified once a year. Sex offenders residing in Cherokee are verified at their homes three to four time annually.

A similar verification was made during the summer, in which 15 people were arrested on various charges. No violations were observed in the Dec. 16 effort.

Cherokee County residents can register their addresses to receive email alerts in the event of a sex offender moving within one mile of them. Registration can be done at the Cherokee Sheriff's Office Web site.